Ricky Gervais Plans to Push Globes Envelope Even Further

Published at 2:16 PM CST on Jan 14, 2011 | Updated at 1:42 PM CDT on May 30, 2012

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Is Ricky Gervais having a laugh at Hollywood’s expense? You bet he is.

After a cheekily pitch perfect and much-lauded stint hosting last year’s Golden Globes ceremony, the Brit comic returns to take a second stab at skewering self-congratulatory traditions of Tinseltown on Sunday, and PopcornBiz has the lowdown on his plans to take things even further at the Industry’s most freewheeling fete.

On what motivated Gervais to return for a second go at the Globes: 'Oh, let me do it again. I can do it better. I can do it better.' So, yes, I want to give it one more go. I just think I can really go out and really throw away the shackles of worry. I don’t mean I’m going to go out and again get drunk and have absolutely no planning or input, but I think I can certainly have more fun with it and I think I can have more fun with the room as well.”

On how far is too far:

“I don’t think I went far enough. Comedy comes from a good or a bad place. And however cheeky or out there or taboo subjects and dark places I take them, I think people know it comes from a good place with me. The last thing I want to do is genuinely offend anyone. I couldn’t live with myself. I want the victims of the joke to like it as well. I don’t see any victory in going out and being awful and shocking – That’s too easy. I think you’ve got to be interesting and engaging and I try and do it with a twinkle in my eye and a smile on my face. So hopefully I can go even further this year and still not be chased out of the country.”

On awards show hosting as his version of an extreme sport:

“The strange thing was they said during the show ‘Great – We’d love you to do it again!’ And I went ‘Well, let’s see – It’s not over yet.’ I like the jeopardy. It’s live and there’s a quarter of a billion people watching and a room full of the most powerful people in the world. I like that jeopardy – I love it. So that’s my extreme sport. That’s what gives me an adrenaline rush, thinking it could be the end of my career.”

On mining comedy in a room full of the most famous faces on the planet:

"The last one I wrote by myself. I got the list of people that were present and I did them all in an hour. If you noticed, that all the lines are about the people that are about to come out. And I’ve realized I can reference anyone in the room. I can look down and just go,’Right; I can go for anyone here.’ So I probably made it a little bit harder for myself than I could have. So I’m going to push the boundaries a little bit more. I think you always should. What’s the worst that could happen? I didn’t expect to be invited back a second time and I certainly won’t do it a third, so I’ve got nothing to lose. So, yes, I’m going to go for it."